Over the hour that followed, Albanos explained to the assembled students the changes he planned on instituting, which amounted, as a rule, to the complete undoing of all the changes Portnoy Hagglit had made during his tenure as principal.
He told them all he had told the faculty: how he felt they had all gone soft, that they weren't being challenged as much in the academy and were paying for it in the real world. To their wide-eyed surprise, he even shared with them the statistics on how short assassin and thief life expectancies were getting outside the walls. These he followed, however, with a reminder that there was no more persistent a survivor than the man in front of them, and he was now in charge of passing on his knowledge.
He detailed the curriculum changes, scoffing at Hagglit's notion that assassins and thieves were inherently different professions and should be taught that way. To Albanos, assassins were just a different brand of thief. They both snuck around, tried to avoid a fair fight if they could help it, and neither was particularly fond of sunlight. It was simply a matter of one stealing something more permanent than the other. As such, each branch of learning would now have to take the core curriculum of the other. Fourth-year students who were too far along to make up all the ground in one year could either stay on for free another semester or opt out of this entirely, but, as Albanos reminded them, it was their life.
With all of the heavy news out of the way, he announced that the unofficial "prohibition" on visits to the Staggering Shadow tavern for students on break during school hours, which Hagglit had implemented but never successfully enforced (although he was oblivious to that fact, a testament to the skill of the students), was being lifted. If you didn't need a drink or some understanding people to gripe to after a class, you probably hadn't worked hard enough, and there was no need to waste precious minutes of your break creeping around to get either. Plus, it was a throwback to the days when he had been a student, and as far as he was concerned, he'd turned out just fine.
"All that being said," he concluded, while fishing a scrap of paper out of one of his inner pockets, "most of you are free to go and get settled into your rooms and begin doing the kinds of things both with and to each other I'd rather not think about for too long, lest I get all misty-eyed with nostalgia. The following students, however, need to come up to the front here. We're going to go have a chat in my office."
As he read their names, 40 in all, they approached the stage with varying degrees of dignity. Some walked tall and proud, as a martyr might march toward the gibbets, while others cringed and shuffled their way up, avoiding all eye contact and looking miserable. Albanos didn't care much for either approach, feeling that neither was befitting their situation, given all they knew of him. In the dignified creepers, those who moved forward with pride and purpose but kept behind the cover of other students and made sure they weren't the first ones to the stage (just in case), he invested the most hope.
Among the crowd assembled before him were a few familiar faces. Willam and Elayna were there, though he noticed they were staying a safe distance apart from one another, and Lillith had a small circle of floor to herself off to one side. He found it somewhat of a relief to already have a few footholds in the student body, even if he was pretty certain one would sever his foot at the ankle given half the chance and hoped they'd still be around when this next stage of things had ended.
When they had all finished striding, slinking, and shuffling forward, Albanos turned and, with a simple "Follow me," walked off the stage. Miss Elwhite was waiting for him in the exit wing, and he took her by the arm and moved her along with him.
"Miss Elwhite, look over your shoulder and tell me which student was on stage and falling in behind us first."
"Lillith, sir," she replied after a fleeting glance. "What's going on?"
"First on stage, too...initiative on top of talent. I bet she even does windows."
"Pardon?"
"Nothing. Remember those folders I had you and Billicks gather? The best students?" Elwhite nodded, having to take two steps to every one of Albanos's to keep up as they wound their way through the halls. "Well, that's them behind us. Out of curiosity, which ones are trying to keep up with us, and which are falling behind? I'm kind of keeping score already."
"Score? And it's Lillith still up front, by the way, with everyone else kind of--"
"Staying behind her, right. Understandable, I'd hide behind her, too. Yes, a score, Ms. Elwhite. This is the first night of their first test."
Elwhite began to slow but was immediately forced to take several steps at a half-jog, since Albanos was still charging along and still had hold of her arm. "First test? Was there a summer reading list I was unaware of? And why am I being drug along? Quite literally, might I add."
"I apologize to you and your shoulder, but this is about appearances. It's all part of their test. You'll see."
Suddenly, they were in front of his door, and even more suddenly, Miss Elwhite found herself being hugged by Albanos.
"I'll see you later. Students, step this way, please. There's surprisingly room for everybody." He led the rabble into his office, past Miss Elwhite, whom, a careful observer would have noted, had stopped blinking. With the last student inside, he shut the door, leaving a stunned Elwhite to figure out what in all the gods' names had just happened.
Albanos strode through the crowd and took up a perch on the front of his desk, scanning their faces and wondering if he'd ever been that young—or awkward-looking. Reaching back, he slid a pile of folders up next to him and began calling attendance, associating faces with the files he had memorized. As he finished calling each name, he placed the folders into one of two new stacks, one on his left and one on his right, noting which students were carefully watching this reorganization. A handful of them were, their eyes darting back and forth between the folders and the students they belonged to, foreheads scrunching in search of a pattern. Most stared fixedly at the ceiling, the floor, or the wall behind him. If only they knew.
When the last name had been called and the piles formed, Albanos turned his full attention to the students. The office was quite roomy, but 40 bodies were still a cozy fit, and necessity had formed them into four rows of ten in the space between himself and the door. He eased down off his desk and moved over to the far right of the first row, and, beginning a countdown in his head, stared unblinkingly at the young man not more than a foot in front of him until he reached thirty, noting every twitch and reaction and pleading stare and nervous fidget. He repeated this process up and down every row, attaching mental notes to their files and trying hard not to return Elayna's beaming smile despite himself.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
At one point, a particularly impatient young thief gambling on the virtues of impertinence called out, asking what the point of all this was and adding that he was getting quite hungry. Albanos simply replied that he was deciding who he did and didn't like, thanked him for making his job easier, and gave him a syrupy-sweet smile. The student was reluctant to push his luck any further.
Several more minutes passed until, with the final student thoroughly stared at, Albanos broke the silence while heading back behind his desk.
"You are probably wondering why you're here, perhaps wondering what you've done wrong, but I can tell you that if you're in this room, it is only because of things you have done right. Whether I believe it or not, after what I've seen so far today, you represent the best of the best here at the Kelsai Academy.
"There are 10 of you from each of the four years present here. Five thieves, five assassins. The first years among you were chosen by the scores on your entrance exams -- the five best incoming thieves and assassins, based on what you went through to get accepted. All returning students were chosen on class rank. Depending on how the next few nights go, you may be part of a grand experiment I have decided to run.
“I'm forming an elite class, and I thought who better to start with than those who are, allegedly, the elite students. This class will study under and answer to me and only me and represent the first and best line of defense and, should it come to it, offense that the school has to offer. I will make you better than you ever imagined you could be. In case you were wondering why you should even bother trying out for this class and going through the extra effort, being as good as I can train you to be means you will command five times the commission of your peers straight out of graduation. I will see to that personally.”
A murmur rippled through the assemblage, young minds full of visions of early retirements and cushy noble postings.
“That is if you do everything I tell you to, along with everything I don't tell you because I feel like I shouldn't have to. The difference between a good thief or assassin and a remarkable one is all about instincts and those I can't teach. I can only develop what you've already got. This is why you all have already taken the first part of your test without many of you even realizing it."
Another murmur washed through, less full of hopes and dreams. Most of them turned to one another and exchanged nervous glances. Only a few continued to stare at him with confidence and knowing smiles, mostly the same few that had been eyeing the folders.
"Everything from the second I called your name has been a trial, and some of you already have quite a bit of ground to make up. You must always be able to read your situation, any situation, or at least learn to present yourself as someone who can do just that. It keeps people off balance. Being nervous and afraid on the inside is good. It keeps you alive, stops you from doing something completely idiotic. Visible nervousness is a weakness. Guards love nothing more than observing nervous people, usually on the end of a pike. Never let someone put you at a disadvantage, even if it means becoming completely delusional about your situation. In our line of work, the attitude can be everything. And never, ever lose your attention to detail.
"So, keeping all that in mind, making up ground is precisely what the written portion of your exam can be used for. Make the most of this opportunity because there will be no chances past that. You see, you will determine the size of this class. I can teach one student as happily as I can teach 40. You pass, you're in. You fail, you're not. Quite simple. No one gets by on a curve, no one gets in on a quota. If every last one of you fails, I get a long lunch."
Albanos opened one of the desk drawers and pulled out a sheaf of papers, handing them to the first student he'd stared at and instructing everyone to take three sheets and pass them on.
"The remainder of the test is in short-answer format. There are three questions, and you have three sheets of paper. If you can't figure that out and you're at the top of your class, then I'm resigning tomorrow. I expect you'll be able to remember only three problems, and again, if you can’t, you have no business in my class anyway. My instructions will be followed to the letter. Any deviation from them will result in immediate failure."
He stopped to let everything sink in for a few seconds and to enjoy the expressions shared by doomed pop-quiz examinees everywhere. So this is what his teachers had felt like. No wonder they were so fond of these things.
"Question one: Based on your observations during our journey from the stage to my office, do Miss Elwhite and I currently have a relationship beyond that of co-workers? Justify your answer with specific examples of your reasoning.
"Question two: By what criteria did I sort your folders, as I called roll when we arrived here? Be specific, or I'm not going to care what you have to say.
"And question three...tell me, in a short essay, why you want to be in this class and why you deserve to be. Kissing ass is allowed, but you lose points when you start leaving a mark. All three questions must be answered satisfactorily and turned in by midnight tomorrow. The only penalty for failure is not spending your nights in my ever-so-pleasant company. Now, turning the papers in is as much a part of the test as the answers.
"We're not here to perfect just the mental or physical attributes of our craft, but rather the combination of both. The two must work together at all times if you want to leave a mark in this world that doesn't consist solely of a bloody smear on the cobbles where they drug you through town. So, I present to you a puzzle of sorts.
“The papers must be in my office by midnight tomorrow; this is true. But you must use all you have been taught and all I have spoken to you about today concerning what separates the good from the great to turn them in, on my desk, without me seeing or catching you as I make my rounds. This could be made considerably more difficult because I may or may not be in my office. Either way, if I'm here, and there's no guarantee either way, and I catch you slinking around, which I would, you fail.
"Three solid answers in my room by midnight tomorrow, using all your training and wits to keep me from catching you sneaking around. The clock starts now. You are dismissed. Good luck."
"And by the way..." he added as the students turned to march out the door, muttering and half-panicked with test anxiety. "If any of you turn in identically worded answers, I will take it upon myself to construct your schedules for the coming semester. I'll leave what that could be like to your imaginations."
Soon, the office was empty, with forty students scattering to the corners of the academy, blank pages in hand and minds racing over questions that some could barely remember for all their nervousness. Albanos imagined what their nights would be like and made a note on his agenda to apologize to the librarian tomorrow. That was one person at least that he didn't want mad at him.
Picturing their frantic study sessions, he chuckled at how the tables had turned, gave his swivel chair a hearty spin for good measure, and returned to the rest of his duties.